Sat 8/19 Falmouth to Martha's Vineyard

[cliffrezac]

My friend and I left from the beach near Falmouth Inner Harbor. We found parking for $15 a few blocks away. We were on the water around 8:20 am. It was a beautiful calm morning, no fog. We headed nearly due South towards West Chop Light, then directly through Vineyard Sound Harbor to Vineyard Haven. We timed it pretty well as we never had to change our bearing crossing Vineyard Sound (referenced current tables when planning). We had breakfast and went searching for a Bloody Mary or beer, only to find we had landed in a dry town. Change of plans. We were back on the water through Vineyard Sound Harbor rounding East Chop Light down Nantucket Sound side to Oak Bluffs. There we found a place to dock and a couple of cold beers. We scared a nice optimistic kid into grad school plans with a light-hearted and comedic conversation about the realities of post-college life. He thanked us for the heads up. We were now at our time for our return crossing - around 2 pm. We paddled out of the harbor from Oak Bluffs, back up past East Chop Light and straight across - mostly straight across. We knew the wind was to pick up in the afternoon, but somehow were thinking a little more from the south and not so much from the west. Our bearing did change a little over the crossing with the west wind and a beam sea, but it did make for a fun paddle and a good workout. It's kind of wild seeing your friend paddling straight across from you clear up above you, and a moment later completely dissappear in the trough. The sea wasn't anything unmanageable for us, but occasionally there would be a couple nice waves where this would happen. I suppose it doesn't take much with beam waves. Don't know why, but I got a big kick out of it. My friend cut in a bit closer than I to a ferry going by and caught a nice wake. There's always fun to be had. Again, a beautiful day, a fun paddle, no snags. We couldn't have picked it any better.